Last week we saw another suicidal attempt
by so-called “academics” to sever themselves from the Jewish State. The real
world, however, knows the true value of Israel’s life-enhancing innovations.

Whilst the American Studies Association was
voting itself into oblivion, Israel’s VBL Therapeutics announced the
development of the first of a new class of autoimmune
disease medicines called Lecinoxoids.ASA pro-boycott members must therefore be hoping that they are all
immune from the likes of Multiple Sclerosis, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Psoriasis,
and Inflammatory Bowel Disease.It is
also crazy for the “brainy” scholars at the ASA to ignore Israel’s
groundbreaking neuroscience discoveries.In contrast, Israel’s
Brain Technologies has just signed a partnership research agreement
with four US organizations with particular emphasis on Alzheimer's disease.

It is obvious that highbrow ASA
philosophers never look out of their ivory towers at the likes of Israel’s Circ
MedTech, which has just been selected by the United Nations and the Rwandan
government to help stop
the spread of AIDS / HIV in the African country.ASA eyes must also be so tightly shut that
they cannot see the image enhancement device developed by Israel’s MobileOCT
that could prevent up to a quarter of a million women from dying
of cervical cancer every year.

I hope that no ASA hypocrites are still
sneakily using their Israeli-powered smartphones and computers.I trust that they were all logged off when
Keepod presented its Israeli-developed
operating system at the Center for Global Dialogue and Cooperation in
Vienna.Keepod runs from any USB drive,
eliminating dependency on one physical computer. Keepod’s Unite project has the
potential to provide access to computers and the Internet to 5 billion people.Those “superior beings” in the ASA Executive
apparently cannot envisage anyone of lesser ability.So they must have been totally immobilized on hearing about
Accelerating Inclusion in Israel (A3i) - the first start-up accelerator for
hi-tech and social ventures that helps
people with disabilities become entrepreneurs.

We cannot expect any straight talking from
anti-Israel ASA members.They would
only be able to display crooked smiles if you spoke to them about the orthodontic
system developed by Israeli Aerodentis that straightens the teeth
during sleep, through the application of gentle pulsating force.And they could only offer a limp response
when presented with Israel’s Medic
Shoes that relieve the foot pain common in those suffering from
diabetes.

I would describe the ASA members that voted
to boycott Israel as “hospital cases”.They should be collected immediately by an IDF medical team, such as the
one that rescued
a 10-year-old Palestinian Arab boy whose head was cut open following a
car accident.They should be transported
to the Western Galilee Hospital or Ziv Medical Center in northern Israel to
watch as Israel
treats (free of charge) the latest group of Syrians wounded in their
civil war.Alternatively, rush them to
Sheba Medical Center to see Israeli doctors operate on a 4-year-old Syrian boy
born with reversed ventricles. His Syrian father had a much
more intelligent reaction than the ASA when he said, “I am happy to
have met this country”.

We should put ASA BDS-ers onto one of the
hundreds of Israeli trucks that delivered
1.2 million liters of diesel into Gaza to restart its power
station.And then stand them just
outside the Hamas-controlled mini-state to watch as terrorists shoot
rockets at Israeli civilians in
gratitude.We should parachute
drop ASA BDS supporters into the Philippines to
join Israel’s RADWIN which has just donated equipment to help
re-establish communications networks in areas devastated by Typhoon Haiyan
(Yolanda).Personally, I would have
liked to shoot ASA BDS supporters into space on the Gaia project’s European
Space Agency rocket.They would then be
the first to hear about the new planets soon to be discovered by the Israeli
scientists working on the project.

But perhaps we should be generous and
mindful that when trying to understand the Jewish State, anti-Israel members of
the ASA suffer from a complete mental block.To that end, I suggest we send in AcousticEye.The Israeli pipeline diagnostic company gave an impressive
demonstration at Tel Aviv’s recent WATEC water technology conference, of its unique
system to detect
defects, cracks, holes and blockages.

My quote of the week comes from the UK’s
leading travel magazine, Condé Nast Traveller, which spotlighted Tel Aviv
recently in its “Insider Tips” section.It highlights “Tel Aviv’s creative energy and joie de vivre”. “Such
positive energy is rare to find, and a pure joy to experience.” And in the next
sentence it sounded a message that could be waved in front of all superficial
anti-Israel academics. “This is a place where ideas are transformed into
reality - where
people enact their dreams rather than just talking about them.”

Thankfully Israel’s recent cold weather
storm has subsided, leaving the country to get back to normal -
whatever “normal” means.Because no
amount of snow
and ice can put a freeze on the latest deluge of the Jewish State’s
medical, scientific and social achievements.

Scientists at Hadassah Medical Center can
now perform lightning
fast checks on women worried about the risk of genetic breast
cancer.They have developed a simple
blood test for the presence of gene mutations BRCA1 and BRCA2 that involves
gene expression profiling – far quicker, cheaper and more accurate than the
previous method of full gene sequencing.Meanwhile, Israel Technion scientists have discovered that waves of low-power
laser light produce a much faster analysis of an individual’s genome.

Israeli research into brain disease has the
potential to rescue the world from an impending avalanche
of dementia sufferers. This debilitating condition is set to treble
globally by 2050, which is why Israeli scientists were invited to attend the G8 Dementia Summit in London.
The G8 has also established a taskforce on Social Impact Investment, to which
the Israeli organization Social Finance Israel presented an initiative for
tackling type-2 diabetes.It
comprises Social Impact Bonds that invest in companies tackling social or
medical issues and then governments pay dividends based on results.

The Jewish State was rewarded for its flood
of international scientific research contributions when Israel became the first
and only non-Euro member to be elected to the prestigious CERN European nuclear
physics council. Now, if they wish, Israeli scientists can conduct research into
electrical storms using the longest subatomic particle accelerator in
the world.In comparison, the
Israeli-developed Objet30 OrthoDesk 3D printer is tiny, but the torrent
of digital dentistry products that can flow from it is simply jaw
dropping.Small dental labs can now
produce stone models, orthodontic appliances, delivery and positioning trays,
retainers and surgical guides, which previously could only be manufactured by
large laboratories.

There is a constant ebb and flow in
diplomatic contacts between Israel and the Arab world.There was a moderate thaw
in relations when the Jordan-based SESAME scientific research project
chose Professor Eliezer Rabinovici of Jerusalem's Hebrew University as its new
vice president.The media then
positively gushed
with delight when Israel, Jordan, and the Palestinian Authority agreed
to build a pipeline from the Red
Sea to the Dead Sea. The initiative will produce millions of cubic
meters of drinking water for the region, replenish the critically dwindling
Dead Sea and generate hydroelectric power.There was another upsurge in relations when Israel’s Technion received a
cascade of applications from thousands of students from Arab countries,
wanting to enroll in its new online nanotechnology course.

Predicting the weather is extremely
difficult. Israel, however, has some unique knowledge about other high-pressure
systems. Israeli start-up GreenSpense’s “no-gas” eco-friendly
aerosol won 1st place in the Chemistry & Advanced Materials category
at the International Cleantech Open Ideas Competition in San Francisco, the
“Oscar” of clean-technology awards. Meanwhile, the UK Daily Mail’s travel
editor praised El Al’s method of dealing
with the pressure to get airline passengers checked quickly and
securely onto flights.“Maybe it's time
to ditch the security scanner and actually talk to people at airports...it
works for El Al”, he wrote.The
following video also sums it up cold and crisply.

The wind is certainly back in the sails of
Israeli air travelers.Weekly flights between
Tel Aviv and Beijing have just been increased from three to fourteen to
cater for the surge in business demand.Tourists and commercial fliers will appreciate the news that UK
low-cost airline easyJet is introducing three new
routes to and from Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion airport.They are London Gatwick, Milan Malpensa and
Berlin.

Now that the snowstorm has abated, Israel
can offer a warm welcome to its winter visitors.The International
Winter Soccer Tournament for Youths will be held at Netanya’s new
13,800-capacity stadium. Teams from Serbia, Germany, Moldova and (of course)
Israel will participate and entrance is free of charge.And as the sun comes out again, Israelis can
look forward to the return of Canada’s Cirque du Soleil to warm their
hearts this August or maybe “blow them away” with its award-winning
production "Quidam".

Finally, 11-year-old Uriel Wang from
Jerusalem has been under the weather following two bone marrow transplants to
try to cure his leukemia.The sun came
out for him, however, thanks to the Jerusalem Big Blue Lions football team, who
gave Uriel the opportunity of achieving his dream to play for the team. Just
watch as he thunders in like a tornado to score a
blizzard of a touchdown - with just a little help from both sides.

Locating tiny Israel on
a world map can be a difficult exercise. Many people would even be
uncertain as to which continent Israel belongs to.One thing you can be sure of, however, is that you will find
Israelis all over the world providing help to millions with innovative products
and development aid.

I will start in the medical arena where CNN
recently reported that the “robotic trousers” from Israel’s ReWalk are now
helping paraplegics to walk at 23 treatment centers across
the United States.Next,
following the BBC’s
program about Israel’s InSightec curing tremor due to brain defects,
InSightec has now revealed that a major UK hospital
has bought the company’s ExAblate MRI focused ultrasound device to
non-invasively remove uterine fibroids.

The Hebrew University of Jerusalem has just
finished running a conference to analyze how the Jews of pre-State Palestine
eliminated malaria.Lessons learned
could help remove the scourge of malaria
prevalent currently in Africa.Israel is also working to develop malaria treatments and innovative
methods to kill the
mosquitoes that spread the virus.

Due to Arab belligerence, the United
Nations has never been able to place Israel in its
rightful geographic group.But
last week, the UN passed an Israeli-sponsored resolution dedicated to
sustainable agricultural advancements for
developing countries.138
countries voted “Yes” whilst all the Arab states abstained.An example of Israel’s earth-shattering
agro-tech companies is Rootility, which has a root-growing platform that can
increase world
crop yields substantially.It
was the star of Israel’s recent AgriVest agricultural conference. In a separate
development Ben-Gurion University announced that it is establishing a center
for excellence on fertile
land erosion.

Israel recently has received world
recognition for its humanitarian efforts.On its Northern border, Israel has been sending water and baby food to
besieged Syrian villages.In
addition to bringing injured Syrians
into Israeli hospitals for treatment, the IDF has also been using its
groundbreaking innovation of freeze-dried plasma in its field hospitals to save
wounded Syrians from critical blood loss. Meanwhile, Israel’s IsraAID
delegation continues to provide relief to typhoon victims in
the Philippines. The team is dealing with trauma and physical health
problems, extending its role as other countries pull out.

Last week three Israeli companies
separately announced large contracts with countries on the American
continent.Israel’s Ormat Industries is
to build and operate the first-ever geothermal
power plant in Honduras, producing 18-megawatts of renewable energy
from heat sources deep below the Earth’s surface.In Peru, Kallpa Generaction, a subsidiary of Israel Corporation,
has been awarded the Peruvian
government tender to build a 593MW dual-fuel power station.The agreement is for 20 years and worth $1
billion.Finally, Israel’s national
water carrier Mekorot has signed an agreement
with Mexico to help purify and protect the groundwater in Mexican
aquifers.

Israeli technology received global
attention when Eldad Farkash of Israel’s SiSense won a top prize at the World
Technology Awards. Farkash has invented software that allows business
users to analyze vast amounts of data at huge speeds using minimal
hardware.Hungry multinational
company Apple Inc swallowed yet another bite of Israeli hi-tech when it
paid $350 million for Tel Aviv-based PrimeSense, whose revolutionary gesture
recognition technology is embedded in Microsoft’s Kinect running on Xbox 360
game consoles.

On the international stage, the Jewish
State was recognized for its human rights when the Women
in Parliament Global Forum awarded Israel the prize for progress at the
European Parliament in Brussels. According to the OECD, Israel is among a
minority of 9 percent of developed countries with gender-sensitive institutions
in the seat of government.And Japan’s
Cultural Institute awarded Professor Ben-Ami Shillony of the Hebrew University
of Jerusalem its annual prize for promoting
the understanding between cultures.Professor Shillony’s book “The Secret of Japan’s Strength” was selected
ahead of 74 other works in Japanese.

Finally, proof that perception of Israel
changes dramatically for the better when people see the Jewish State close
up.A survey of easyJet passengers from
the UK showed that 65 percent of first-time
tourists had improved their view of the Jewish State following their
visit.And 82 percent would recommend
it to others as a holiday destination.

So if your friends don’t know where
Israel is, persuade them to come here and find it.

The Jewish festival of Hanukah recalls two
miracles that occurred over two millennia ago – the victory of the Maccabees
over the Greek-Syrian superpower and the single flask of pure oil that
burned for eight days in the Temple.In
our present time (as regular readers of this blog will know) miracles occur on
a daily basis in the Jewish State.

Israel’s life-changing medical innovations
have become almost commonplace. It was miraculous, though, that the BBC decided to feature
InSightec’s ExAblate non-invasive focused ultrasound treatment curing a
Parkinson’s sufferer of essential tremor.In the whole episode, however, the flawed broadcaster managed to avoid
naming the developer of the breakthrough equipment or the fact that it was
Israeli.The Jerusalem Post gave
appropriate credit, however, when doctors at Haifa’s Rambam hospital used the
same system to cure
the first Israeli of the debilitating tremor.

At this point I must include the following
Hanukah miracles involving two more Israeli patients.Blinded in a bomb attack by Gaza terrorists last month, 2nd
Lieutenant Ahiya Klein has recovered
enough sight in his left eye to return home and light Hanukah
candles.And, two-year-old Avigail
Ben-Tzion has
been discharged from hospital after suffering serious head injuries
when Arab thugs threw rocks at her family’s car in Jerusalem.

Anyone who has seen incidences of
metatarsus adductus or metatarsus varus will think it is a miracle that these
deformities in the feet of infants can be cured in just six weeks
simply by them wearing the Israeli-developed UNFO foot brace. The device is
worn below the ankle and is far more effective, safer, and less stressful than
a cast or full leg braces.Those
suffering from dementia (and their families) will hope that miracle cures will
emerge from the research being carried out at Ben-Gurion University into the
impact of mitochondria
on memory and brain disorders.A $1 million German-Israel Project-Cooperation grant will certainly
boost these prospects.And would you
believe that cannabis
/ marijuana is the latest miracle drug?Hot on the heels of its success in treating the symptoms of
Multiple Sclerosis, scientists at Tel Aviv University and Kfar Saba’s Meir
Hospital have had similar results with those suffering from Crohns’ disease. In
some patients, the disease even went into remission.

It will be a miracle if the world can
continue to feed itself throughout this century, but if it succeeds then Israeli
technology will be one of the key reasons.Israel’s advanced precision farming techniques, water
optimization, robotics, sensor driven technology and environmentally friendly
agrochemicals are all currently on display at the 2nd annual Agrivest Conference
at the Eretz Israel Museum, Tel-Aviv.Simultaneously, at the Warsaw Climate Change Conference, Israel’s
Ministry of Economy presented a database of the Israeli
companies that offer “adaptation” technologies. The companies address
climate, agriculture, waste, “green” building materials and crisis management.

The world will also need the “miracle” of
Israeli technology to avoid running out of water for drinking and
agriculture.Even before Typhoon Haiyan
struck, Israel’s water management company Miya
saved 700 million liters of water a day in the Philippine capital of
Manila – an achievement for which it won the International Water Association’s
Project Innovation Award.Israel’s
national water carrier Mekorot is working with British firms both in
the UK and globally.And despite the EU
refusal to help fund joint Israeli-PA projects, Israeli water treatment company
Mapal Green Energy is building a
pilot reclamation system in the Palestinian Arab village of Uja, near
Jericho that will recycle domestic sewage and water for use in agriculture.

The miracle of Israel and its ethos can be
summed up in the
music and lyrics of Arik Einstein, Israel’s most popular singer and
songwriter.Despite his death last
week, one of his many enduring songs “Ani v’Ata Neshaneh et Ha’olam” (Me and
You will Change the World) will continue to inspire Israelis.

The return of the Jewish people to its land
is certainly the greatest miracle of modern times. Two recent events emphasize
the link between the modern Jewish State and its historical roots.Firstly, archaeologists have uncovered
a stone altar that provides the first physical evidence that the
ancient city of Shiloh (in Judea and Samaria) was a religious center even
before the First Temple was built in Jerusalem.But the journey of Tony Pina’s family is even more poignant.Following exile to Babylon and later
emigration via Spain to Majorca, the Pina family was forced to convert to
Christianity.But for 500 years Tony’s
ancestors practiced Judaism secretly, culminating in Tony’s return
to his roots in Jerusalem, defying history, logic and the impossible.